Adderall Shortage Continues

(Memphis) It’s a drug used to treat people who have trouble concentrating, but Adderall has long had a wider appeal.

“It’s a product that everybody wants,” said Dr. Ryan Smith with Wiles-Smith Pharmacy.

Dr. Smith has been a pharmacist for more than 50 years and said as long has he can remember, people have abused Adderall for its effects.

It can give users a buzz.

That’s why the DEA controls it’s active ingredient, amphetamine, and limits the amount manufactures can have.

“There has been a shortage for quite a while now,” he said.

Since 2011, the drug has not been available to everybody who wants it.

At Dr. Smith’s pharmacy on Union Ave, he’s unable to keep a solid supply.

He said he gets 10 to 12 calls a day from people who want Adderall and can’t find it at other pharmacies.

He thinks the problem is not everybody who wants the drug, needs it.

“It’s just too much in my estimation,” he said.

While the FDA predicts the shortage will end sometime soon, Dr. Smith said parents who actually need the medication for their children will have to continue calling around.

Dr. Smith said parents should call around because different pharmacies use different wholesalers and some wholesalers have an ample supply of the drug.

Another thing parents can do is ask their doctor for an alternative medication that treats ADHD.